Monday, November 28, 2005

It is expected that the United States of America will carry out its 1000th execution of a convicted killer since the death penalty was reinstituted. There are many who oppose the death penalty (mostly people who have not lost a loved one to violent murder).

I always felt the death penalty, as meted in the USA, is too gentle for some of the worst violent killers.

I mean, they are allowed to basically doze off to permanent sleep with a lethal injection. Where's the fun in that? Where's the justice in them suffering what they did to their victims?

I believe killers should be killed in exactly the same manner as they killed their victims in.... and, if that is too complicated, then just Hang 'em high, in Giants Stadium.. and put it on PPV (pay per view television).

Let's give the money to victims' families, or, if there is no next of kin, to pay the cost of having tracked and proesecuted the killer. $9.99 paid by 100,000 viewers oughta be a good start.

Thursday, November 24, 2005

You probably think a Muslim commentator, especially a liberal one, is least likely to support a tougher conservative stance of the Roman Catholic Church on a socio-political issue.... But, in this particular case, where the Church is taking a harder, I mean, tougher, line on limiting or refusing gay clergy in the Church, I do. I do. I do.

OK, OK, I was just kidding on the last two "I do"s. I am not married to this issue!

Back to the topic at hand. Yes, I somewhat agree with the Catholic Church on one of its recent decisions. Here's why.

Like most major religions, Christianity in the Catholic Church is not a free-floatin', easy-goin', come 'n hang out, everythin's cool commune or open-air concert.

It is a system of beliefs, values, traditions and rules. You and I may disagree with those beliefs, values, traditions or rules, but no one is forcing us to JOIN the Church.

Unlike a place like, for example, Saudi Arabia forcing (my religion) Islam down everyone's throats (except the rich and Royal family members), No one is forcing anyone, in America, or Italy, or Pakistan, to BECOME a Catholic or Christian.

So, if someone wants to be a CATHOLIC the way the Church and other Christian Catholics define it, (and as long as it does not require them to kill others, or burn people at the stake, hold inquisitions or bombing nations the way George Bush seems to be doing "the Lord's work") then they ought to abide by the rules of the Catholic Church.

If they disagree with some of the things that are fundamental to Catholic values, they should consider joining another denomination, or a different Church, or a different faith that tolerates, accepts or celebrates whatever it is that the Church does not accept. But, I disagree with politically correct changes being shoved upon a religion and its followers, even though I do not personally belong to that religion.

It is one thing to have religions "change" with the times, e.g. having web sites, TV sermons, etc. but it is a whole different thing to try to change the fundamentals of that religion just because certain things are more socially acceptable today than 2000 years ago.

So, I can accept and support gays having equal rights as citizens of a nation, members of society, workers in a company, etc. but forcing established institutions or a few Billion people to give up their fundamental beliefs, whether right or wrong, just to placate a "a few thousand" members of a certain sexual orientation is definitely not right.

At the same time, my main concern still remains.

The Church has still not done enough to address the serious issue of pedophile priests. It amazes me how some of the worst sexual predators and offenders still enjoy positions of power and prestige --- even after their roles in sexual abuse of children and protecting guilty priests became publicly known.

Punishing decent gay people who may be good Christian human beings, while protecting "straight", but truly evil, child-raping priests.... now that's a crime that ought to be dealt with more seriously.

Saturday, November 19, 2005

I read with interest an Associated Press story about the Vatican's stand on the Intelligent Design vs. Evolution (non) debate going on in some Retarded States of America. But the story left me quite confused.

I am sorry, but after reading this story the Church sounds more like Senator John Kerry than I could imagine. Kerry is Catholic, maybe that explains his self-contradictions!

The current Pope says intelligent something is at work here, his Science official says intelligent design is not science, the previous Pope seemed to support evolution but some other papal figure says what the Pope said was not important. Huh? ..... So, which one is the Infallible one?

A poster on the Yahoo message groups, from a rather irate Christian writer declared how the Church has always been the one to promote science, and I was amused and amazed by that. I think history books are full of examples of then religious figures in Christianity persecuting people of science who dared say the Earth was NOT the center of the solar system, etc.

As a Kerry inspired Church statemet would say....

We persecuted science before we promoted it?

So, am I right, or am I correct, or am I not wrong, or am I not incorrect... dare I say it, by that token and logic am I always right, and thus, infallible? ;-)

Friday, November 18, 2005

It is so nice to hear that a new tax cut has been approved. OK, let's see. We have nation-wide devastation by hurricanes. We have schools without teachers for lack of funds. We have the biggest deficit. We have all good jobs going overseas. We have high rates of uninsured people. We have ONE big oil company making $10 BILLION in PROFIT in ONE QUARTER. We have a war draining our resources...

Coooool, plenty of good reasons to hand out some more tax cuts.

Oh, and let's make sure not to tax any of that windfall profit because the oil companies finance people like Bush and Cheney. So what they screwed everyone in the USA to achieve those profits.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

I posted this on November 13, and 2 days later this was proven true with AlQaeda or someone immediately carrying out a terror attack in Pakistan. I did not see any more claims like this from Busharraf. Did you?

Imran

Is Musharaff On Drugs, Delusional Or Just Stupid?

I am flabbergasted that Parvez Musharraf, Dictator of Pakistan, would make such a DUMB statement...

"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The president of Pakistan said Sunday it was highly unlikely his country would have to deal with the kind of terrorist attack that killed 57 people last week in Amman, Jordan."

I am not sure if he is on drugs (as just drinking too much would make his speech slurry) or just delusional from all the Yes men around him, or if he has (being a military man) actually become more and more stupid with time in power.

His statement has the kind of dumb bravado that His Master's Voice quality as when the Other Idiot In Power, George W. Bush, made a landing on an aircraft carrier with a "Mission Accomplished" banner in the background, and asking AlQaida to "bring it on".... only to see 2000 more Americans get killed in Iraq.

It is almost like Musharraf is asking for AlQaida to conduct such similar stupid, easily carried out, murderous attacks as we saw in Jordan. Maybe he is.... What do you think?

President Bush announced another victory in the war on terror, when Saddam's aide died in hiding, never having been caught. Bush felt that the stress of running must have killed Izzat al Douri. According to President Bush, this proves his plan to BORE Bin Laden and his team to death is working. Bush said he can guarantee that this will cause Bin Laden to die within the next 100 years and the war on terror will be won.

UN's Kofi Annan In Iraq Seeking....

Since UN Secretary General Koki Annan sees little hope for peace in Iraq after the war Bush started, he felt it was his duty to visit Iraq. He is there seeking not peace but a piece, of the action.... He is there to find any opportunity.... to get some Hailburton contracts for his own son.

Sunday, November 13, 2005

OK, let us get one thing established. I abhor violence and torture, and would never condone hitting a woman. However, now that we have this live specimen of human filth Iraqi wannabe suicide bomber woman under arrest, here are some ideas I have for her treatement.

I disagree with blowing her up. :-) Blowing up her sorry ass on global TV would be a waste... I mean, that is what SHE wanted in the first place.

Much better TV ratings (and ad revenues) would come from a pay-per-view on-air special of putting her in the camp with the 600 sex starved men in Guantanamo Bay.

The real "jihadis" among them can get one non-virgin right there to meet their needs to blow something, and the others, who may be incorrectly held by the US can get some much deserved free sex. If suicide bombers think they get 72 virgins somewhere above, a woman suicide bomber should get 72 virgin terrorist men have their way with her right here on earth.

After that, I consider this woman perfectly suited for being tortured in EVERY known way to make her talk, to get information on where other terrorists are hiding, planning and preparing for more murder of innocent people around the world.

THEN, finally, I would like to see her blown up on TV, but, to make the show longer, thereby increasing the opportunity to get more advertising sponsors (like Kevlar, Hummer, Smith & Wesson, Haliburton, CIA, US Army) I suggest strapping mini-explosives to her body so she is blown up, bit by bit.

First the left middle finger, then the right middle finger, then the right big toe, then the left shoulder, then the right ear, and so on.... You get the idea. And, hopefully, any other wannabe volunteers to suicide bombings will get the idea of what awaits them.

Friday, November 11, 2005

FREEMUSLIMS.ORG sent out an interesting email today, titled "Why is France Burning? Is America Next?" by Kamal Nawash.

It made some good points but one of them caught my eye. "Unlike past immigrant generations who quickly assimilated, today's immigrants take much longer to assimilate if they assimilate at all. This is due to technology. In the past, immigrants were generally cut of from their mother countries which made assimilation much easier. Today, satellite technology brings movies, news and culture from an immigrant's home country to the living room of his adopted country via TV, the internet and other forms of media."

In response, I wrote to them stating that I am proud to be a Muslim from Pakistan and proud to be an immigrant and proud American. I can HATE American POLICIES but still LOVE America, and its people. I am more American than many Americans in how I believe in true American values (not the Bush-Cheney-Rice-Rove-Haliburton version) and am an "assimilated patriot" yet remain dedicated to helping Pakistanis and Muslims achieve progress and socio-economic success in the future.

Your posting below has many good points but I seriously disagree that Technology is to blame for the LACK of assimilation of immigrants, in Europe or America. Assimiliation is a CHOICE, and younger people in well off, educated families/cities will assimilate better than un-educated, down-trodden, unemployed youth who may also have poor, uneducated and unemployed, possibly overly religious parents.

Contrary to the writer's opinion, I feel immigrants today have a CLEAR picture of the kind of society they will have to live in, thanks to cable and satellite TV and the Internet, before they ever buy a fake visa or crawl over the border or float into Miami.

They can see that if they move to Miami, FL, they should expect to see lots of thong-wearing babes. They cannot claim to not have known the cultural differences, that they could easily have seen in ANY TV show, if nothing, then Baywatch! If they move to Nice, France, they should expect (and probably look forward to) nude sun-bathers thronging the beaches that they will ogle, all the while complaining about the "evil and shameless" Western culture.

So, the real problem is people coming "HERE" (whether Europe or America) and CHOOSING to still live in a little mental and geographic ghetto that looks (and usually smells) like where they came from..... Such immigrants should not come "here" and if they hate it so much "here", they ought to go back where they came from..... Those that do come here, and have the requisite drive and skills, do not need to make an effort to assimilate. Success is assimilation in this culture. Doing well is assimilation. We/they can stay true to their cultural values as immigrants, whether it be saying prayers or not eating pork, speaking Urdu or wearing shalwar kameez, yet be considered assimilated simply by being productive, proactive, ACTIVE members of the society we CHOOSE to make our (new) home.

Blaming the host for everything, or blaming technology for the choice of people not to move into the mainstream, are not the answer. That's just In My Humble Opinion. Comments welcome.

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Hmmmmm..... let me see, its them damn Saudis pushing up the price of oil and them damn Chinese and Indians and others buying up all the oil and US oil companies are only passing on the additional cost to customers..... except... oooops, damn, unlike Bush-supporting Enron's FAKE profits, these Bush-supporting oil companies are making $10 BILLION+ in REAL PROFIT in ONE QUARTER alone for just ONE company.... Whose side is Bush on?

From Enron to Exxon, Americans get screwed by greedy corporate America, and Bush provides the screwdrivers.....

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Just who are they fooling? It sometimes amazes me how transparently and blatantly our politicians can put politics above ethics, or duty to the Constitution.

It appears some in Congress want to investigate the leaked news of our government keeping ILLEGAL prisons to keep and likely torture anyone they want. They are doing it obviously to deflect attention from the Valerie Plame CIA agent outing leak investigation, which should possibly bring down Dick Cheney at the least; and to divert attention from the actual fact that such prisons would be illegal by OUR laws.

My opinion is quite simple.

Leaking a CIA operative's name to PUNISH her husband for DOMESTIC POLITICAL reasons is as bad as treason.

Someone having the courage to let US AMERICANS know that, AGAIN, our government is breaking OUR LAWS, is also a LEAK…. but instead of treason, it would qualify as an act of patriotism in my humble opinion.

If such a leaker had leaked info as to how AlQaeda could attack such illegal prisons or kill American guards there then it would be treasonous. Otherwise, it was a great American who believes in what our values are (Hint: They are not what George Bush and Dick Cheney, Karl Rove and Scooter Libby, Haliburton or the CIA represent).

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Since I get asked by friends and family on what gadgets to buy or not to buy, here was my comment related to that story/question:

In one sentence, a company cannot give away crap, and expect to make money on crap add-ons or supplies.

Lexmark is NOT the only one hurting for that reason.

SO many companies think they can make money using the Razors and Blades business model. Well, guess what? No matter how many free razors you give away, no one will buy blades if the razor is ugly, cheap looking, poor performing, and the blades are more expensive than buying yet another new and better razor from someone else.

I HAVE "bought" Lexmark printers.... each time ONLY when I got them free as a rebate item on an Apple Macintosh or PowerBook purchase. Each time I have thrown or given them away even before the first ink cartridge ran dry....